Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design
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Date
2021-08-17
Authors
Robles, Kelly E.
Roberts, Michelle
Viengkham, Catherine
Smith, Julian H.
Rowland, Conor
Moslehi, Saba
Stadlober, Sabrina
Lesjak, Anastasija
Lesjak, Martin
Taylor, Richard P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Psychology
Abstract
Highly prevalent in nature, fractal patterns possess self-similar components that repeat
at varying size scales. The perceptual experience of human-made environments can
be impacted with inclusion of these natural patterns. Previous work has demonstrated
consistent trends in preference for and complexity estimates of fractal patterns.
However, limited information has been gathered on the impact of other visual judgments.
Here we examine the aesthetic and perceptual experience of fractal ‘global-forest’
designs already installed in humanmade spaces and demonstrate how fractal pattern
components are associated with positive psychological experiences that can be
utilized to promote occupant wellbeing. These designs are composite fractal patterns
consisting of individual fractal ‘tree-seeds’ which combine to create a ‘global fractal
forest.’ The local ‘tree-seed’ patterns, global configuration of tree-seed locations, and
overall resulting ‘global-forest’ patterns have fractal qualities. These designs span
multiple mediums yet are all intended to lower occupant stress without detracting
from the function and overall design of the space. In this series of studies, we
first establish divergent relationships between various visual attributes, with pattern
complexity, preference, and engagement ratings increasing with fractal complexity
compared to ratings of refreshment and relaxation which stay the same or decrease
with complexity. Subsequently, we determine that the local constituent fractal (‘treeseed’)
patterns contribute to the perception of the overall fractal design, and address
how to balance aesthetic and psychological effects (such as individual experiences
of perceived engagement and relaxation) in fractal design installations. This set of
studies demonstrates that fractal preference is driven by a balance between increased
arousal (desire for engagement and complexity) and decreased tension (desire for
relaxation or refreshment). Installations of these composite mid-high complexity ‘globalforest’
patterns consisting of ‘tree-seed’ components balance these contrasting needs,
and can serve as a practical implementation of biophilic patterns in human-made
environments to promote occupant wellbeing.
Description
21 pages
Keywords
Fractal design, Composite fractals, Fractal dimension, Preference, Aesthetics
Citation
Robles KE, Roberts M, Viengkham C, Smith JH, Rowland C, Moslehi S, Stadlober S, Lesjak A, Lesjak M, Taylor RP, Spehar B and Sereno ME (2021) Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design. Front. Psychol. 12:699962. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.699962